Texas LLC fees (2026)

Every mandatory and optional fee Texas charges an LLC, verified against the official fee schedule — not a blog's memory of it. Statutes and source links are at the bottom of each section.

Texas has NO annual report and NO annual report fee. Instead every LLC must file with the Comptroller each year by May 15: a franchise tax report plus a Public Information Report (PIR). Franchise (margin) tax is $0 for entities whose annualized total revenue is at or below the no-tax-due threshold ($2.65 million for report year 2026); above that, tax is roughly 0.375%–0.75% of margin. The PIR must be filed even when $0 tax is due — there is no fee for it, but failure to file leads to loss of good standing and eventual forfeiture of the entity's right to transact business.

The full fee schedule

The filings and certificates an LLC actually ends up paying for, at the official rate.

Online vs. mail vs. counter

• Credit card (any channel): +2.7% of the amount charged — The SOS states: 'Credit card payments are subject to an additional statutory convenience fee of 2.7% of amount charged.' American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa are accepted. On the $300 certificate of formation this adds $8.10, for $308.10 all-in. Authorized by Tex. Gov't Code § 405.031(e). (source)
• Check, money order, or cash: No surcharge — Checks (personal or business) and money orders payable to the Secretary of State carry no convenience fee, so paper filers avoid the 2.7%. Cash is accepted but the SOS warns cash should not be sent in the mail — in practice that makes cash an in-person-only option. Checks are returned, cash refunded, and credit cards not charged when a document cannot be filed. (source)
• Online (SOSDirect / SOSUpload) vs. mail: $0 difference in the filing fee itself — Texas charges the same $300 certificate of formation fee regardless of channel — there is no discounted online rate and no separate portal filing surcharge. The only channel-driven cost difference is the 2.7% card fee (unavoidable online, avoidable by mailing a check) and expedite fees. The SOS nonetheless 'strongly encourages electronic filing through SOSDirect or SOSUpload to ensure swift processing times.' (source)
• SOSDirect portal search fee: +$1.00 per search — SOSDirect charges 'a $1.00 statutorily authorized fee associated with each search, which supports the ongoing operations and enhancements of SOSDirect.' Per Form 806 the $1 is waived when an order or filing is placed from the search results, so it usually only bites on pure lookups. (source)
• Same-day / next-day expedite (Texas Express): In-person or email request required — not available through the online portal — Same-day ($750) and next-day ($500) transactions 'may be requested in person or via email by emailing TexasExpress@sos.texas.gov,' visiting 400 W. 15th Street, Austin, Texas 78701, with a request to email before an agent or courier arrives. Filings must be received by 12:00 p.m. to make that day's or the next day's cutoff. Standard $50 expedite, by contrast, is available by mail or in-person delivery. (source)

Miss the deadline: what it actually costs

Texas has no LLC annual report and therefore no annual report late fee at the Secretary of State. The recurring obligation sits with the Comptroller: an annual franchise tax report plus a Public Information Report, due May 15 (next business day if May 15 is a weekend or holiday). The penalties are (a) a flat $50 late-filing penalty on each report filed after the due date, imposed by Tex. Tax Code § 171.362(f) 'without regard to whether the taxable entity subsequently files the report or whether any taxes were due' — so it applies even to a zero-revenue LLC that owes $0 in tax; (b) a 5% penalty if tax is paid 1-30 days late and 10% if paid more than 30 days late (§ 171.362(a)-(b)); and (c) interest, which begins accruing 61 days after the due date. The escalation beyond money is what actually matters: notice, then forfeiture of the right to transact business, then forfeiture of the certificate of formation itself.

Recent fee changes

• 2026-04-29 — The Secretary of State expanded Texas Express — same-day ($750 per document) and next-day ($500 per document) expedited processing — to business formation and registration filings. Texas Express originally launched in fall 2025 for a narrower set of documents; this is the announcement that brought LLC certificates of formation within reach of same-day service. (source)
• 2026-01-01 — Franchise tax no-tax-due threshold rose from $2,470,000 (report years 2024-2025) to $2,650,000 (report years 2026-2027), and the compensation deduction limit rose from $450,000 to $480,000. Tax rates were unchanged at 0.375% for retail/wholesale and 0.75% for other entities, with the EZ computation rate at 0.331% up to $20 million. More Texas LLCs owe $0 franchise tax for 2026 than for 2025 — but the Public Information Report is still required. (source)
• 2025-10 — Form 806, the SOS Business Filings & Trademarks Fee Schedule, was reissued (stamped 'Revised 10/25') publishing the three-tier expedite structure — $50 standard, $500 next day, $750 same day — alongside the unchanged $300 LLC certificate of formation fee. Publication on the SOS website is now a statutory duty under Tex. Gov't Code § 405.032(d). (source)
• 2025-09-01 — H.B. 346 (89th Legislature, R.S., Ch. 335) took effect and did two things that still govern Texas LLC costs. First, it struck the statutory ceilings on SOS expedited-handling fees: Gov't Code § 405.032(a)(2) previously read 'a fee ... of not more than $25' for expedited filing of a business-entity document, and (a)(1) 'not more than $15' for UCC records; both now read 'a fee in an amount the secretary of state prescribes.' Removing the $25 cap is what legally enabled the $50/$500/$750 tiers. Second, it repealed Section 9 of S.B. 938 (87th Leg., 2021) — the sunset clause that would have repealed BOC § 12.005 and Tax Code §§ 171.0005 and 171.001(d) on January 1, 2026 — so the new veteran-owned business filing-fee waiver and franchise tax exemption did NOT expire and remain available. (source)
• 2025-09-01 — S.B. 2411 (89th Legislature, R.S., Ch. 199, § 11) amended BOC § 4.152 to add a $15 fee for filing a certificate of validation, plus the filing fee for each new filing instrument attached to it as an exhibit. Because § 4.154 routes LLC fees through § 4.152, this applies to Texas LLCs ratifying defective acts. (source)
• 2022-06-01 — S.B. 1523 (87th Legislature, R.S., Ch. 43, § 11) added BOC § 4.162, creating a distinct fee schedule for a registered series of a Texas LLC: $300 to file a certificate of registered series, $150 for an amendment, $40 for a termination. Each registered series is charged like a separate entity rather than riding free on the parent LLC's $300. (source)

What trips people up

• A qualifying new veteran-owned LLC pays $0 to form in Texas, not $300. BOC § 12.005 orders the SOS to 'waive all fees imposed under Subchapter D, Chapter 4' — the entire LLC fee schedule, formation included — for up to five years, and Tax Code § 171.001(d) exempts the entity from franchise tax over the same period. Every owner must be a natural person honorably discharged from the armed forces, with verification from the Texas Veterans Commission. This nearly died: S.B. 938 (2021) contained a sunset repealing both provisions on January 1, 2026, but H.B. 346 (2025) repealed that sunset clause, so the waiver survives. (source)
• Texas is a no-annual-report state whose recurring obligation is nonetheless one of the harshest in the country to miss. There is no SOS annual report and no annual SOS fee, so the cash penalty for blowing the May 15 franchise/Public Information Report deadline is just $50 for a zero-revenue LLC. But forfeiture follows 45 days after notice with no court involvement, and Tax Code § 171.255 then makes each manager or officer personally liable for debts incurred after the due date 'as if the director or officer were a partner and the corporation were a partnership' — the LLC's liability shield lapses for that period. Low fee, high consequence. (source)
• 'Certificate of good standing' means two different documents in Texas, and buyers routinely order the wrong one. The Secretary of State issues a Certificate of Fact – Status ($15, or $25 for the long form listing all filings); it speaks to the entity's existence on the SOS record. Franchise tax standing is a separate question answered by the Comptroller's Franchise Tax Account Status, which is a free public lookup keyed to taxpayer number, entity name, or SOS file number. Lenders and out-of-state filing offices asking for 'good standing' may want either or both. (source)

Sources

• Official Texas fee schedule
• {'cite': 'Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 4.154', 'what': "Filing fees: limited liability companies. The operative LLC fee provision — it sets no dollar amounts of its own but directs that 'for a filing by or for a limited liability company, the secretary of state shall impose the same fee as the filing fee for a similar instrument under Section 4.152.' Every LLC fee below is therefore read through § 4.152.", 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/BO/htm/BO.4.htm'}
• {'cite': 'Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 4.152', 'what': 'Filing fees: for-profit corporations — the schedule LLCs borrow via § 4.154. Certificate of formation $300 (subd. 1); certificate of amendment $150 (2); restated certificate of formation $300 (5); statement of change of registered office/agent $15 (6); change of name or address of a registered agent $15, capped at $750 for simultaneous filings (7); certificate of termination $40 (9); reinstatement after Tax Code forfeiture $75 (13); reinstatement after involuntary termination or revocation $75 (14); certificate of validation $15 (15); any instrument with no express fee $15 (16).', 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/BO/htm/BO.4.htm'}
• {'cite': 'Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 4.151', 'what': 'Filing fees: all entities. Certificate of correction $15 (subd. 1); application for reservation or registration of a name $40 (2); notice of transfer of a name reservation $15 (3); renewal of name registration $40 (4); certificate of merger or conversion $300 (5); certificate of exchange $300 (6); preclearance of a filing instrument $50 (7).', 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/BO/htm/BO.4.htm'}
• {'cite': 'Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code § 12.005', 'what': "Fee waiver for new veteran-owned business. 'The secretary of state shall waive all fees imposed under Subchapter D, Chapter 4' — i.e. the entire LLC fee schedule including the $300 formation fee — until the earlier of the fifth anniversary of formation or the date the entity stops qualifying under Tax Code § 171.0005.", 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/BO/htm/BO.12.htm'}
• {'cite': "Tex. Gov't Code § 405.032", 'what': "Expedited handling. Authorizes the SOS to set expedite fees for business-entity documents 'in an amount the secretary of state prescribes' (subsec. (a)(2)), caps expedited handling of a certified copy or certificate of fact at $10 (a)(4), and — via subsec. (d), added in 2025 — requires the SOS to publish the prescribed amounts on its website. The pre-2025 text capped business-document expedite at $25.", 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.405.htm'}
• {'cite': "Tex. Gov't Code § 405.031(e)", 'what': "General fees. Statutory authority for the credit-card surcharge: 'The secretary of state may set and charge a fee for the use of a credit card to pay a fee assessed by the secretary of state in an amount reasonable and necessary to reimburse the secretary of state for the costs involved in the use of the card.' The SOS has set that fee at 2.7%.", 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.405.htm'}
• {'cite': 'Tex. Tax Code § 171.362', 'what': "Penalty for failure to pay tax or file report. 5% of tax due if late (a); an additional 5% if still unpaid/unfiled after 30 days (b); minimum penalty under (a)-(b) is $1 (c); and under (f) a flat $50 penalty for failing to file, 'assessed without regard to whether the taxable entity subsequently files the report or whether any taxes were due.'", 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.171.htm'}
• {'cite': 'Tex. Tax Code §§ 171.251, 171.2515, 171.256, 171.257', 'what': "Forfeiture of the right to transact business. The Comptroller must give at least 45 days' notice (§ 171.256(c)); forfeiture follows if the report is not filed or the tax/penalty not paid within those 45 days (§ 171.251); § 171.2515 applies the corporate-forfeiture machinery to non-corporate taxable entities such as LLCs; § 171.257 confirms forfeiture happens with no judicial proceeding.", 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.171.htm'}
• {'cite': 'Tex. Tax Code §§ 171.252, 171.255', 'what': "Effects of forfeiture. The entity is denied the right to sue or defend in a Texas court (§ 171.252(1)), and each director or officer is personally liable for every debt created or incurred after the report/tax due date and before privileges are revived — 'in the same manner and to the same extent as if the director or officer were a partner and the corporation were a partnership' (§ 171.255(a)-(b)).", 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.171.htm'}
• {'cite': 'Tex. Tax Code §§ 171.301, 171.302, 171.3015, 171.309', 'what': 'Forfeiture of the certificate of formation itself. 120 days after privileges are forfeited without cure is grounds for forfeiting the charter/certificate (§ 171.301(1)); the Comptroller certifies the entity to the SOS (§ 171.302); § 171.3015 extends this to LLCs and other taxable entities; and the SOS may then forfeit the certificate or registration (§ 171.309).', 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.171.htm'}
• {'cite': 'Tex. Tax Code §§ 171.001(d), 171.0005', 'what': 'New veteran-owned business franchise tax exemption. § 171.0005 defines the status (every owner honorably discharged, verified by the Texas Veterans Commission, entity first doing business in Texas on or after Jan. 1, 2022); § 171.001(d) exempts it from franchise tax until the earlier of the fifth anniversary of doing business or the date it stops qualifying.', 'url': 'https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/TX/htm/TX.171.htm'}

Figures verified against official Texas sources. Fees change — the official schedule linked above controls. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice; FilingDesk is not a law firm.